Voltaire’s Candide both supported and challenged traditional enlightenment viewpoints through the use of fictional ‘non-western’ perspectives. Candide mockingly contradicts the typical Enlightenment belief that man is naturally good and can be master over his own destiny (optimism). Candide faces many hardships that are caused by the cruelty of man (such as the war between the Bulgars and Abares, Cunegonde being raped, etc) and events that are beyond his control (the earthquake in Lisbon). Voltaire did not believe that a perfect God (or any God) has to exist; he mocked the idea that the world must be completely good, and he makes fun of this idea throughout Candide. He also makes fun of the philosophers of the time, because the philosophers in the novel talk a lot, do nothing, and solve no problems at all. Candide also makes a mockery of the aristocracy’s notion of superiority by birth. Voltaire also addresses the corruption of the religious figures and the church thus “destroying and challenging the “Sacred Circle”. Voltaire’s Candide is the story of one man’s trials and sufferings through life. The main character is Candide. Candide is portrayed as a wanderer. He grew up in the Castle of the Baron of Westphalia, who was his mother’s brother and was taught by, Dr. Pangloss, the greatest philosopher of the whole world. Pangloss taught Candide that everything that happens is for the best. Candide is exiled from the castle because of his love for the Baron’s daughter, Cunegonde. He then sets out to different places in the hope of finding her and achieving total happiness. Candide thought that everything happened for the best because the greatest philosopher taught him that, but everyone around him did not accept that theory. The optimistic Pangloss and Candide, suffer and witness a wide variety of horrors: beating, rapes, robberies, unjust executions, disease,and an earthquake, These things do not serve any apparent greater good, but be a sign of the cruelty and...

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...﻿Candide
1. Voltaire satirizes war and the Church in his novella, Candide. War is depicted as unnecessary, and something that only brings pain and the worst out of most people. While escaping the Bulgarian army who “whipped (him) six-and-thirty times through all the regiment” (Ch. 2) for taking a walk, Candide witnesses absolute devastation and death in an “Abare village which the Bulgarians had burnt according to the laws of war” (Ch. 3). And when he escaped that village, he entered a Bulgarian village, which was almost an identical scene to the Abarian one, emphasizing the victimization of the population while their armies completely ignore the devastation as they pursue expansion and profit.
Voltaire also attacks another establishment, the Church, or religion in general, because it breeds severe intolerance. After the earthquake in Lisbon, two men were caught for “rejecting the bacon which larded a chicken they were eating” (Ch. 6), which to the Inquisition implied that they were Jews. At the same time, after “speaking his (Pangloss) mind, the other (Candide) for having listened with an air of approbation” (Ch. 6), Pangloss and Candide were seized. The two men and the accused ‘Jews’ were forced to participate in the auto-da-fe, a sort of penance ceremony hosted by the Inquisition. Though the Familiar makes these petty accusations in the name of God, Voltaire criticizes the corruption of such an...

...Candide is an outlandishly humorous, far-fetched tale by Voltaire satirizing the optimism espoused by the philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment. It is the story of a young man's adventures throughout the world, where he witnesses much evil and disaster. Throughout his travels, he adheres to the teachings of his tutor, Pangloss, believing that "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds." Candide is Voltaire's answer to what he saw as an absurd belief proposed by the Optimists - an easy way to rationalize evil and suffering. Though he was by no means a pessimist, Voltaire refused to believe that what happens is always for the best.<br><br>The Age of Enlightenment is a term applied to a wide variety of ideas and advances in the fields of philosophy, science, and medicine. The primary feature of Enlightenment philosophy is the belief that people can actively work to create a better world. A spirit of social reform characterized the political ideology of Enlightenment philosophers. While Voltaire's Candide is heavily characterized by the primary concerns of the Enlightenment, it also criticizes certain aspects of the movement. It attacks the idea that optimism, which holds that rational thought can inhibit the evils perpetrated by human beings. Voltaire did not believe in the power of reason to overcome contemporary social conditions.<br><br>In...

...is revealed as unjust. This criticism suggests the need for reform by deriving authority from somewhere other than the traditional roles of the royalty, clergy, and nobility, a rather radical move at the time.
Voltaire at first reveals the fault of Europeans through his description of the savage land of Oreillon. Upon their dissent from Paraguay, Candide and Cacambo come across two women, completely nude, who cry out and “spryly” run away from two monkeys who snap “at their buttocks” (73). Instantly sympathetic, Candide shoots his musket and kills the monkeys, thinking that he has redeemed himself from earlier sins by saving these distressed women. However, to his surprise he discovers that he has just killed the ladies’ lovers. Without questioning the practices of this foreign society, Candide reacts based on his own perceptions of right and wrong. His actions reflect the naivety of Europeans concerning what is thought to be normal based on their own “superior” culture. As punishment for Candide’s rash actions, the Oreillons attempt to roast the travelers over a spit to eat, justifying this through the proclamations that Candide and Cacambo are Jesuits and thus deserve to die. This behavior is explained by Cacambo as being “appropriate” because “if we Europeans do not exercise our right to eat others, it is because we have other ingredients for a good meal” (pg. 74). He recognizes that each society contains its own...

...The world Candide lives in seems to be filled with horror and despair that includes robberies, rapes, unjust executions, and betrayals. A constant optimistic view is portrayed by Pangloss, the philosopher, although the cruelty is unbearable. Pangloss displays admirable qualities, constantly portraying his views that everything happens for a reason and everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds. I believe that he shows great qualities by always keeping a mindset of optimism regardless of what he has gone through in the foul world he lives in. Saying this, it becomes very difficult to find other admirable characters with substantial qualities because somehow they all begin to do harm to one another. Though, on the side where the grass is always greener there is always someone who changes an opinion. Jacques is introduced to us as soon as we lose hope for Candide and the world they live in.
Many of the people that have been introduced to us are very harsh to Candide. Remembering back on when Candide was recruited to fight in the war we lose faith that things will get better for the naïve character known as Candide. Throughout his journey though he meets a kind-hearted man named Jacques.
dsfkjsdfhshfjkshfjThe world Candide lives in seems to be filled with horror and despair that includes robberies, rapes, unjust executions, and betrayals. A constant optimistic view is...

...Does Candide Change?
Candide has many encounters and travels through many places that help to lead him to his final statement, which shows that he wants to pursue his own happiness and not just let things happen the way they are apparently meant to happen without explanation. Throughout the novel, we see how Candide changes when he travels throughout the world, the events that have the greatest impact on him, and how he becomes different at the end of the story.
Candide is a young man who is educated by the optimistic philosopher Pangloss. Pangloss believes that everything in the world happens for the better, because “things cannot be other than what they are, for since everything is made for an end, everything is necessarily for the best end” (42). As various unfortunate situations occur throughout the story, Pangloss defends his theory by determining the positive from negative situations. For this reason, Pangloss is a very hopeful character in the story because he refuses to accept evil.
In the very beginning, Candide is affected by optimism. Candide grows up in the Castle of Westphalia, in which his life was one of happiness, but he is shortly thrown out of the castle for kissing Baron’s daughter, Cunegonde. “Best of all possible worlds, the Baron’s castle was the finest of all castles” (42), is how Pangloss describes the castle prior to Candide’s dismissal. This is the...

...Genvert
History 102
2/09/13
CandideCandide is a very interesting book of the 18th century by Voltaire. Voltaire was a French enlightenment writer and was known for his criticism of religion in a satirical way. Candide is a French satire about society and religion.
Candide is about a young man who grows up in a Baron’s castle under care of a scholar Pangloss. Candide is seen kissing the Baron’s daughter Cunegonde. He is therefor kicked out of the castle and must face the world he knows so little about. Candide leaves the country and joined the Bulgar Army. Candide manages to escape the army and goes to Holland where Jacques takes him in. Here he finds a beggar who happens to be Pangloss who tells him Cunegonde and her family have been murdered. Candide, Jacques, and Pangloss travel to Lisbon. On the voyage Jacques drowns and dies. In Lisbon Pangloss is hanged as a heretic. Candide meets an old woman who takes care of him and brings him to Cunegonde who is actually not dead. Cunegonde is being held as a sex slave. Candide kills her two owners and flees with the old women and Cunegonde on a ship. Candide plans to marry Cunegonde but when they arrive in Buenos Aires, the governor, Don Fernando, proposes and Cunegonde accepts. Candide then runs into Cunegonde’s brother and tells him his...

...25, 2011
Reaction Paper Candide
Throughout his novel Candide, Voltaire utilized satire, characterization, and techniques of exaggeration and contrast to attack Candide's two-dimensional outlook on life and to disprove the overly optimistic philosophy that Candide and Pangloss represent. While the experiences of Candide and Pangloss conflict dramatically with this philosophy, both choose to maintain their beliefs in this regard. Voltaire uses Candide as a tool to accuse the various aspects of his zeitgeist. Through his techniques, he attacks multiple points of view and even the Enlightenment he represented. Candide is a story about the two dimensional character of Candide, who is taught from birth not to think for himself and to accept the ideals of others. He chooses to follow the local philosopher Pangloss, who preaches that everything is good, and that the world is the "best of all possible worlds". Throughout the story, Voltaire dramatically disproves this philosophy over and over, but the protagonist sticks with this belief. Each of the characters in Candide represents a different aspect of his zeitgeist, most of whom Voltaire brutally attacks with his satire.
After examining Candide in Western thought and movements, there is no doubt that the work is highly critical of many of the social institutions of the time. Still, while...